Image: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / DigitalVision / Getty Images
About This Quiz
When something goes awry in your home, what is your first instinct? Do you make a call and pay an expert to come fix it? Or do you move to the self-sufficient response — asking what it would take to do it yourself? If you have a self-sufficient mindset, it doesn’t matter whether you already know how to fix something. You just know that you have the capacity to figure it out, and you break the task down into manageable steps and take them in stride.
When you get a sky-high water bill, for instance, how do you react? You might first call the water company for advice. When they tell you that the problem is definitely on your end and not a leak on the street side, you’ll need to figure out how to find the leak. Start by checking any appliances for leaking. Eventually, you look up the blueprint for your water pipes outside the house and dig until you uncover the culprit soaking in a pool underground.
The DIY mindset means that, over time, you’ll acquire a wide range of skills and the ability to take on any challenge that comes your way. How far along are you in that process? Tackle these problems and find out how self-sufficient you really are!
Replace the gutters.
Put a bucket beneath the leak.
Check the gutters for clogging and remove debris.
Gutters, which carry rainwater from the roof to the ground so that it doesn’t pool up and cause damage, can often leak when they are clogged with leaves and other debris. An easy fix is to use a ladder to check for debris and remove it.
Remove the gutters.
Advertisement
Install a drip irrigation system.
If you have trouble keeping up with watering your vegetable garden, you could try installing a drip irrigation system. Such a system can be rather complicated, but it can also be as simple as a set of hoses that attach to your water spigot. The system can be programmed to water at a specific time.
Dig up the garden and put in rocks.
Wait for rain.
Try harder.
Advertisement
Get a new dishwasher.
Call a dishwasher repairman.
Clean the spray arm, filter and float.
When a dishwasher no longer properly washes the food off dishes, it may be a problem with a clogged spray arm, filter or float. To clean the spray arm, you’ll need to first remove it, then soak it in a solution of hot water and vinegar. If needed, use a toothbrush and/or tweezers to remove any debris that doesn’t loosen.
Change the detergent.
Advertisement
Push the button facing downward to temporarily stop the alarm while you address the issue in the oven.
When a smoke detector alarm is going off, you can usually stop the loud alert by simply pushing the button facing downward on the device. While it may sound again, especially if there’s still smoke, this is easier than dismantling the device. Of course, if there's an actual fire, put it out or call 911.
Get a fan and cover your ears.
Hold your breath and cover your ears.
Dismantle the fire alarm and then address the issue in the oven.
Advertisement
Get a new paint job.
Use a bleach solution to scrub them off.
Use a vinegar solution to scrub them off.
If the anticipation of tidy company makes you notice the flaws on your walls, you can fairly easily clean marks off. Mix a solution of 50/50 vinegar and water, and apply it to the walls with a sponge. Scrub lightly and rinse with water. Test this method on a small, out-of-the-way spot first!
Move furniture in front of the marks.
Advertisement
Get rid of the dogs.
Get rid of the furniture.
Apply a vinegar spray to the chewed areas.
While telling some well-behaved dogs “No!” may solve the problem, most dogs with this habit will need more of a deterrent. Applying something that will taste bad and won’t harm animals or furniture, like a mix of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar, works well to stop the chewing.
Tell the dog “No!”
Advertisement
Lubricate it with water.
Open and close it rapidly.
Leave it alone.
Apply olive oil drips at the top.
To silence a squeaky hinge, you can also use any number of lubricants that you might have on hand. Olive oil is one option — apply a small amount at the top of the hinge, let gravity do its work, then wipe away the excess. Bar soap or petroleum jelly can also be used as lubricants.
Advertisement
Remove the shower head and soak it in vinegar.
Low pressure in a shower head may be caused by mineral deposits in the holes of the shower head. To clean it, remove the shower head and soak it in vinegar for at least eight hours. Scrub off any debris, then try to remove stuck debris with tweezers or a toothpick.
Leave it alone.
Soak the shower head in bleach.
Scrub the shower head with a toothbrush.
Advertisement
Apply weed killer.
Pull them up every day.
Pull them up and cover the area with mulch.
When weeds continually rise up in the garden, you’ll initially need to pull them out by the roots to get them under control. After that, you can control the emergence of more weeds by applying a layer of mulch over the surface.
Just ignore them.
Advertisement
Go to an oil change station.
Add new oil.
Drain the old oil from the oil pan and filter, and replace with new oil.
While most people these days take their car to a professional for an oil change, it’s a relatively easy project to do yourself, if you're handy. The job requires you to find the oil pan and drain plug, drain the old oil from the pan and the filter into a container, install a new filter, and add clean oil.
Ignore it.
Advertisement
Unscrew the locking tab and the bulb and replace it.
Not having your license plate illuminated can sometimes earn you a ticket, so it’s important to replace a bulb that goes out. To do so, simply remove the locking cap by unscrewing it, then unscrew the bulb a quarter turn and replace it with a new bulb.
Go to an auto repair shop.
Don’t worry about it.
Remove the bulb.
Advertisement
Fill it with less water.
Fill it halfway with water and freeze it.
In very warm climates, your bottled water won't stay cold for long. For an easy fix, fill your bottle halfway and freeze it. When you're ready to go on a run or a bike ride, you can fill the rest with cold water. The ice will slowly melt and give you cool water as you go.
Just drink warm water.
Put it in a koozie.
Advertisement
Place chicken wire around the seedlings.
A simple solution for keeping rabbits from nibbling up your tender greens is to cage them with chicken wire. To protect seedlings from cutworms, place a tin can collar around each baby plant, embedded at least one inch deep.
Stand watch with a slingshot.
Spray them with poison.
Put caution tape around them.
Advertisement
Cut out the tile with an angle grinder, and replace it with a new tile.
When a tile is broken, you can replace it without having to replace the whole floor or call someone in. You’ll need to cut out the tile with an angle grinder, place a new tile in, and secure it with tile adhesive and grout.
Call someone in to replace the tile floor.
Fill in the crack with plaster.
Paint over it.
Advertisement
Pour bleach into them to soak.
Coat the pans with salt and vinegar.
Copper pans can be beautiful in the kitchen, but they tarnish, and this doesn’t come off with soap and water. A mixture of salt and vinegar, combined with a sponge and some elbow grease, will make your copper shine again.
Cook them on high heat until it burns off.
Soak them in water.
Advertisement
Put a stool in front of it.
Take the door off the hinges.
Take out the middle hinge pin, bend it slightly, and hammer it back in.
Sometimes a door will not stay in place and swings open or closed. To remedy this, you can remove the middle hinge pin, bend it slightly, then tap it back into place with a hammer. This will give your hinge the needed extra friction to remain in place.
Replace all the hinges.
Advertisement
Use baking soda and vinegar.
Over time, grout between tiles will stain, due to spills, mildew and plain old dirt. Start cleaning with a mild scrub of water with vinegar and baking soda. For more stubborn stains, try grout cleaner or bleach.
Mop the floor.
Scrub it with a soapy toothbrush.
Sweep the floor.
Advertisement
Call in a builder.
Change out the frame.
Paint over it.
Fill the crack with surface filler.
Cracks in walls can have a range of causes, from minor to severe. Minor cracks, such as those caused by repeated door slamming, may be addressed by filling the crack with a surface filler and then painting over it.
Advertisement
Don’t make cookies.
Get a new oven.
Get an oven thermometer to see if it needs to be recalibrated.
While one solution could be to turn the oven down 10 degrees, a more permanent solution would be to get an oven thermometer and check to see if the oven needs to be recalibrated. This can be done at home and can save you the price of a new oven.
Turn the oven down 10 degrees.
Advertisement
Get new chairs.
Recover the chairs with new fabric.
When the fabric of your dining chairs has become soiled or worn, you can recover them with new fabric. You’ll need to remove the seat, likely by unscrewing it, and then remove the staples securing the old fabric. Measure the chair and cut new fabric, allowing enough extra for the fabric to fold over onto the back. Then, pull it tight and staple it securely.
Put a cover over the upholstery.
Just don’t look at them.
Advertisement
Turn the oven temperature up and shorten cooking time.
Turn the oven temperature down and lengthen cooking time.
When brownies come out dry at the edges and mushy in the middle, it’s likely because you're baking them at too high a temperature. Turning down the oven and letting the brownies bake a bit longer can give you more evenly moist brownies. Be sure to check them often, so they don’t dry out!
Take the brownies out sooner.
Leave the brownies in longer.
Advertisement
Call a drywall repair company.
Make a patch with drywall and spackle.
The large holes left by removed outlets can be quite an eyesore. They can be fairly easily remedied by cutting out a piece of drywall the same size as the hole, fitting it in the hole and securing it with spackle. This method of repair is often called the “California patch.”
Fill it in with spackle.
Ignore it.
Advertisement
Pick the bugs off one by one.
Give up on gardening.
Attract ladybugs to your garden.
Aphids afflict gardens across all gardening zones in the United States. While an insecticide spray would eliminate aphids, it could also affect helpful insects. A natural alternative is to attract ladybugs to the garden to eat the aphids. Another option is to sprinkle the plants with flour.
Spray the plants with an insecticide.
Advertisement
Close my eyes while cutting.
Squint while cutting.
Cut it underneath an oven fan.
While cutting onion doesn’t drive everyone to tears, for some it can cause aggravating pain. One way to prevent the chemical irritant from burning your eyes is to cut the onion beneath an active fan, so the fan can suck up the chemicals before they reach your eyes. Also try cutting the onion near an open flame or wearing glasses while chopping.
Cut it outdoors.
Advertisement
Start painting on the color of your choice.
Begin by applying a primer coat.
Thoroughly wash the walls first.
While some walls may not need to be washed prior to painting, kitchen walls definitely need to have the grime scrubbed off. Wash them with a sponge and warm, soapy water. Be careful not to scrub too hard or to get the walls too wet, as this can damage the walls.
Buy plenty of spray paint.
Advertisement
It’s too cold in the house.
For bread to rise effectively, it needs a warm environment. If your kitchen is cool, try warming the oven slightly, then letting the bread rise in the warmth. Also ensure that your yeast is not old and that you haven't added too much salt to the dough.
It’s too hot in the house.
The loaf is not the right shape.
The loaf is not in the right container.
Advertisement
Wash the mattress with soapy water.
Clean the mattress with a carpet cleaner designed for pet stains.
A highly effective method for freshening a urine-stained mattress is to clean the affected area with a carpet cleaner designed for pet stains. The carpet cleaner will draw out both the stain and the odor.
Apply baking soda to the area.
Place the mattress outside.
Advertisement
It’s not the right kind of meat.
The heat is too low.
The heat is too high.
The pan is overcrowded.
While meat and veggies may turn out soft and grey because the heat is too low, the more common issue is overcrowding the pan. Overcrowding prevents moisture from escaping while food cooks, and this moisture prevents the food from browning.
Advertisement
Operate the disposal with hot water running.
Pour bleach down the disposal.
Put lemons and ice in the disposal.
Clean the spray guard with vinegar and baking soda, top and bottom.
While lemons and ice can help for a short-term fix, a garbage disposal needs to have the spray guard thoroughly cleaned from time to time, as food residue sticks to it and decays. Disconnect power to the disposal before scrubbing the rubber flaps with a toothbrush. Pouring straight bleach down a disposal is corrosive and not recommended.
Advertisement
Stare at the bowl to see if the level goes down.
Check my water bill.
Listen closely.
Put a few drops of food coloring into the tank.
If your toilet tank has a fast leak, you may be able to tell by any of the above methods, but with a slower leak, the best way to be sure is by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank. If the tank is leaking, the color will appear in the toilet bowl.
Advertisement
Place the burn under cool running water, then cover with a sterile bandage.
While many people react to a burn by placing the wound under cold water or even applying an ice compress, cool water is actually better for soothing the burn without doing further damage. Afterward, apply aloe vera lotion and a sterile bandage. See a physician if the burn seems to become infected.
Soak it in very cold water.
Place an ice compress over the affected area.
Cover with a bandage.
Advertisement
Stop watering it so much.
As a succulent, aloe vera does not need very much water. If you overwater it, the leaves can begin to turn brown. Only water an aloe plant about every three weeks, making sure that the soil dries one to two inches down between waterings.
Water it more frequently.
Remove it from the sun.
Place it close to other happy plants.
Advertisement
I didn’t stir it long enough.
I used skim milk instead of whole.
The environment was not warm enough.
Yogurt cultures need a warm environment, between 110 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to be active enough to make yogurt. If the temperature is not warm enough or gets too hot, the milk will remain milk and not become yogurt.
The environment was not cool enough.
Advertisement
Wipe it down regularly.
Use a dehumidifier inside.
Apply a breathable waterproof coating to the window.
Condensation can occur when warm and humid interior air hits a cold window, forming dew. Using a dehumidifier or placing a tray of rice and salt in the room can help control moisture in the short term, but for a long term solution, you’ll need to apply a breathable waterproof coating to the window.
Place salt inside the room.
Advertisement
Locate any spoiled food, clean it out and verify that the refrigerator is cooling to the proper temperature.
A smelly fridge could simply be caused by spoiled food, in which case the problem can be remedied by removing the odor-causing item and cleaning the refrigerator interior. Verify that the refrigerator is operating at the proper temperature, between 35 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit, or you'll continue to find spoiled items and risk illness.
Remove all food and clean drawers.
Nothing, just toss out the fridge.
Put baking soda in the fridge.
Advertisement
You Got:
/35
